Weekend Wrap-Up
Real Steel Dominates Weekend Competition
By John Hamann
October 9, 2011
50/50 manages to stay in fifth after a disappointing opening frame. The Seth Rogen/Joseph Gordon-Levitt flick earned $5.5 million this weekend, down from its $8.6 million last weekend. That gives 50/50 a fairly solid drop of 36%, considering how it got started last weekend. Luckily, 50/50 was made for only $8 million, and with a gross so far of $17.3 million, this one is going to work for Summit Entertainment.
Sixth is Courageous, the faith-based film distributed by Sony. After a surprising $9.1 million opening last weekend, Courageous is missing the $2 million in pre-purchased tickets, and earns only $4.6 million this weekend. That gives this one a drop of 49%, and potentially a quick trip to the exits. Picked up for $2 million, Courageous has now earned $15.9 million.
Disney's The Lion King falls all the way to seventh after a third place finish last weekend. The Disney re-release took in $4.6 million and fell a wicked 57%. When the Blu-ray release came out last Tuesday, maybe people realized that their need for early-'90s history was not priceless (Blu-ray plus two adult tickets to the 3D theatrical = $70). Had the Blu-ray not come out, this release of The Lion King was headed toward $100 million, but not anymore. It has $86 million so far, and will exit with just short of $95 million.
Eighth is the very bad Dream House. The horror flick earned only $4.46 million and fell 45%. The $50 million flop has now earned $14.5 million, and will be very lucky to walk away with $25 million.
What's Your Number is ninth, as the Anna Faris flick failed to hold business this weekend. Number earned $3.1 million and dropped 44%. The $20 million Fox flick has earned only $10.3 million.
Tenth is Abduction, featuring Taylor Lautner's abs and lack of acting ability. The attempt at cashing in on the young star's Twilight fans brought in $2.9 million, down 48% from its total last weekend. The thriller has now earned $23.4 million, which is not getting it done versus the $35 million budget.
Overall this weekend, things were right on target compared to last year, but well back of where things were in 2009. This weekend, the top 12 earned $84.4 million, on par with 2010's top 12 of $81 million, when Life As We Know It opened softly, and behind 2009's $95 million feat when Couples Retreat was on top. Next weekend could be really interesting. It's a remake frame as The Thing (1982) takes on Footloose (1984) in the battle of the '80s retreads. Also opening is The Big Year, with Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson.
| 1 |
Real Steel |
DreamWorks |
$27,300,000 |
New |
$27,300,000 |
| 2 |
The Ides of March |
Sony/Columbia |
$10,400,000 |
New |
$10,400,000 |
| 3 |
Dolphin Tale |
Warner Bros. |
$9,160,000 |
- 34% |
$49,070,000 |
| 4 |
Moneyball |
SONY |
$7,500,000 |
- 38% |
$49,253,000 |
| 5 |
50/50 |
Summit Entertainment |
$5,500,000 |
- 36% |
$17,330,372 |
| 6 |
Courageous |
SONY |
$4,600,000 |
- 49% |
$15,892,000 |
| 7 |
The Lion King 3d |
WALT DISNEY |
$4,552,000 |
- 57% |
$85,962,000 |
| 8 |
Dream House |
Universal |
$4,462,200 |
- 45% |
$14,454,165 |
| 9 |
What's Your Number? |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$3,050,000 |
- 44% |
$10,306,018 |
| 10 |
Abduction |
Lions Gate |
$2,900,000 |
- 48% |
$23,369,142 |
| 11 |
Contagion |
Warner Bros. |
$2,845,000 |
- 42% |
$68,929,000 |
| 12 |
Killer Elite |
Open Road Films |
$2,125,000 |
- 57% |
$21,575,000 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
The Way |
Pda |
$110,000 |
New |
$110,000 |
| |
1911 |
Variance |
$50,000 |
New |
$50,000 |
| |
Dirty Girl |
Weinstein Co. |
$17,500 |
New |
$17,500 |
| |
Blackthorn |
Magnolia |
$13,000 |
New |
$13,000 |
| |
Take Shelter |
Sony Pictures Classics |
$55,634 |
+ 7% |
$129,855 |
| |
Munger Road |
Freestyle |
$50,000 |
+ 37% |
$125,000 |
| |
Margaret |
Fox Searchlight |
$12,834 |
+ 71% |
$24,655 |
| |
Machine Gun Preacher |
Relativity |
$113,000 |
+ 33% |
$291,632 |
| |
Drive |
FilmDistrict |
$1,812,327 |
- 45% |
$30,077,649 |
| |
The Help |
DreamWorks |
$2,005,000 |
- 34% |
$162,712,000 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
